Don't Forget To Remember Me
by RosalindHawkins
Summary: Blueshipping/Mizushipping. Platonic Tabloidshipping. Present-day Seto Kaiba is haunted by memories of his beloved Kisara, making him realize that he doesn't want to be alone for the rest of his life. When he finds her again, they're both eager to start a new life together. Rated T for mild smut, reference to child abuse. Reviews/critiques appreciated.
1. Haunted

_Seth wrapped his arms around the lithe, feminine form in his bed, pressing his lips to hers as they found solace and comfort in each other's arms. Here, in his bed, they could both love and be loved without fear of judgment or scorn. They shed their clothes without shame. Heat, flesh, lips, skin. Labored breathing, straining muscles, ecstatic moans. A bite and a kiss, a laugh and a cry. The sum total of it all was an absolute and unconditional love strong enough to last for thousands of years. But in those moments, Seth's blue eyes were content to watch Kisara's naked, sleeping form, just cherishing her very existence._

Seto Kaiba awoke with a start, letting out a groan of frustration almost immediately. It had been months since he, Yugi, and the others had returned from Egypt. At the time, he'd denied the past life regression, the reincarnation, the magic, the spirits, all of it. If he was forced to give an honest answer, now, he would be saying something quite different.

This was the third time this week alone he'd had this dream, only to wake up all hot and bothered in his lonely bed. It was three in the morning, but he got out of bed anyways and immersed himself in a freezing shower, trying to cool the heat his dream had aroused in him.

He stood there in the shower as the cold water sprayed against his scarred back. Thanks, Gozaburo, he thought bitterly. He would never stop hating his step-father, no matter what Yugi said to him. Yugi couldn't possibly understand what Seto had suffered at the monster's hands. Mokuba condemned Seto for his undying rage as well, but he couldn't understand either. Seto had always hid Gozaburo's abuse from his younger brother, not wanting to frighten or upset him. He hadn't told him then, so how could he possibly tell him now?

Those memories were ones he'd rather forget entirely, annihilate from his mind so that he could live without the tyrant haunting him at every turn.

Even as he wished to erase those memories, new ones from a past life were surfacing in his subconscious. Ones that were equally upsetting, but for an entirely different reason. As far as he knew, Kisara hadn't been reincarnated in this time. All he had of her was the blue eyes white dragon. Did this mean that his bed would remain lonely for the rest of his life? He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had loved her then, and that he still loved her now.

This realization, coupled with the fact that she wasn't here with him and could never be here with him, dealt a blow to his heart with palpable force. Seto fell to his knees as he began to sob, the cold water starting to numb his body. Here, he could be vulnerable, because he was completely alone. This was the only place it was safe to cry, where nobody could hear him even if somebody was around at this time.

Yes, he wished that he had never learned about Kisara. Then he wouldn't be hurting so much now, waking up with an intense ache for her that would have to be either repressed or satisfied with his own hands. This was getting tiring. Seto had trained himself to be as emotionless as humanly possible, and he'd done so out of necessity so that he could survive Gozaburo's brutality in one piece, but these memories of Kisara were as sharp as surgical knives, tearing open his emotional wounds and making him bleed out all of the love he still felt for her.

Being alone had never before been so hard on Seto. He wasn't sure if he could hold out against temptation for much longer. As a rule, he abstained from one-night stands, prostitutes, and night-clubs. For one thing, he needed to set a good example for Mokuba. For another, he needed to keep his own reputation in good condition. A good reputation, once lost, is never fully restored. For a third thing, he was not of a sordid disposition. He simply didn't enjoy lasciviousness for its own sake. Yes, one-night stands would allow him to be physically vulnerable with a person and not have to live with the consequences or ever see the woman again, but they were risky things and, quite frankly, not worth the trouble he'd have to go to in order to keep them secret from his brother, his employees, the press, the public…

Seto sighed as he stood, feeling as if his heart had just endured a beating akin to the ones Gozaburo had inflicted on his body. Gozaburo and Kisara, both dead, still tortured him through his memories. One teased him with past pleasure, the other taunted him with past pain. It was all weakness, in Seto's eyes: needing someone's love like that, to the point where you were crushed by their death, and lacking the physical and mental abilities to put an end to your own torture. Yet here he was, and his lover and abuser were both long gone.

If only there was a way to wipe them both from his mind. He'd be so much happier if he could. He'd probably be able to have a better relationship with Mokuba if he could, too, since he wouldn't feel the need to be so cold, to hide his feelings, to block all emotions and desires that didn't directly relate to his business and work.

Seto couldn't go back to sleep now. He was awake for good. When he'd dried himself off and dressed, he sat at his desk and opened his laptop. He sat there staring blindly at the screen for five minutes without doing anything, then closed his laptop again, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. He couldn't go on like this.

It was too early in the day for him to drink alcohol, so that meant it was time for him to get coffee. Seto was not alcoholic, not by far, but sometimes a glass of fine wine in the evening was enough to stave off these disrupting dreams of his. What he wanted almost more than anything else right now was to drink that glass of wine now and just go back to bed. He was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and what he needed was restful sleep, not more memories of some long-distant happiness he could no longer have, or nightmares of a pain he'd long since put to an end.

He stood and went downstairs to the kitchen, brewing himself a cup of strong black coffee before taking his mug with him to sit on the veranda. He faced the east and drank his coffee, spending the next two hours watching the oh-so-gradual death of the night.

5:30 a.m. Time for him to head to work, and spend another day in denial. As much as he tried to bury the past, it seemed to uncover itself and latch onto him with a vise-like grip, keeping him from moving forward. Always move forward, never back. That was Seto's philosophy. It was the way of life for a shark, and it worked just great for the ocean's top predator. For the millionth time in his life, Seto wished that he didn't have a heart, that he couldn't feel pain, that he could erase his own memories, that he was somebody else.

Then he banished the thought. No more wishing. There was work to be done.


	2. Brothers

Seto wrapped an arm around his sleeping brother's form, pulling him under the covers and cuddling against him. Mokuba had wanted to go to the park that afternoon, and when Seto told him that he was too busy, he'd offered to watch a movie with him that night instead. His younger brother had been satisfied with that, and so, when Seto finally wrapped up work at the office, they'd gone home, made popcorn, changed clothes, and watched a movie together in Seto's room. Mokuba had fallen asleep by the end of it, but instead of moving him to his own room, Seto decided to simply let Mokuba stay here with him tonight.

With Mokuba sleeping soundly in his arms, Seto didn't feel so lost. His brother grounded him, reminded him that he wasn't truly alone in the world. That at least one person loved him and needed him here. The young CEO curled up around his brother and closed his eyes. He ended up sleeping more soundly that night than he had in a long time, so they got into the habit of watching a movie every night together, so long as Mokuba had finished all his homework and Seto didn't have any pressing work matters to deal with.

Mokuba appreciated the affection from his brother. He was beginning to understand that while Seto didn't feel comfortable expressing his feelings through words, and that he didn't often have spare time for himself, let alone his brother, he still cared. This was a way for him to let the child know that he did indeed care for him, no matter how busy or stressed he was.

Gradually, Seto's disturbing dreams went away. Not all at once, but things were getting better. Once, he awoke from a dream of Kisara and hugged Mokuba close to himself, crying a little before falling back asleep. More often, though, nightmares about Gozaburo were waking him, though they were still less frequent than they used to be. He managed not to wake Mokuba when this happened, for the most part. Turns out, Mokuba was a lighter sleeper than Seto had initially thought.

It been a couple of weeks since the last nightmare, but this one was the worst he'd had in a long time. It was bad enough to make him start crying out in his sleep, and that had been loud enough to wake Mokuba, who, worried about his brother, had started to shake him awake. When Seto's eyes flew open, Mokuba saw an expression of absolute terror on his brother's face that he'd never seen before.

"Seto? Did you have a bad dream?" Mokuba's quivering voice was enough to tell Seto just how much he'd startled him. Seto was panting hard after the fear inspired by the dream, and it took him a few moments to regain some degree of composure. He sat up, nodding vaguely in answer to Mokuba's question.

"You were talking in your sleep," Mokuba said quietly. "Were you dreaming about Gozaburo?" He'd heard the name in his brother's cries.

Seto didn't feel like he was ready to have this conversation with his brother yet. He was still just a child. He was too young to learn the truth. He pulled his brother onto his lap, hugging him close. Mokuba could feel his rapid heartbeat where his back met Seto's chest. This worried the child more.

"Seto, what's wrong?" Mokuba was used to Seto's silence, but this wasn't something he was content to let him remain silent about. Not when Seto was scared enough that he was shaking. Seto was never scared; he never shook.

"Nothing, Moki. I'm fine." Seto never called him Moki, not anymore. It was probably meant to reassure him, but it didn't. If anything, it worried Mokuba even more.

"What was your dream about, Seto?" the child asked stubbornly. He wasn't going to let this go.

"Gozaburo," Seto answered after a long pause. "I was remembering the way things were when he was still around."

"Why did you cry out, 'No, don't! Please stop'?" Seto's arms around Mokuba tightened, and he inhaled a deep, shaky breath, letting it out slowly. How did he tell his brother that his step-father had beaten him, and worse? How did he explain the violence he'd endured without upsetting his brother, or falling apart himself? Seto released Mokuba, setting him off to the side as he slipped out of bed, standing with his back to it. He stripped off his shirt and let the scars speak for him. Mokuba stared in numb horror, then he crawled over to the edge of the bed and stood on his knees, reaching up and tracing one of the bolder scars across his shoulder blades, making Seto shiver.

"Gozaburo did this?" Mokuba whispered, shocked. Seto nodded. "That's why you hate him so much." Finally, Mokuba understood his brother's feelings towards their step-father. The hatred, the rage, the bitterness. It all made sense now. Mokuba gave his brother a tight hug from behind, making Seto let out a low sigh.

"Let's go back to sleep, Mokuba," he finally said, and Mokuba let go of him. He pulled his shirt back on and they got back under the covers, Seto pulling Mokuba close as he struggled to put his memories out of his mind. They were both awake for a while yet, Mokuba falling asleep before his brother.

Things were better between them after that. Mokuba was more understanding, and Seto was more honest. The hole in Seto's heart got a little bit less empty as sibling love grew. He smiled a little bit more, every so often when he was with Mokuba. There was still an emptiness, though, that he didn't know how to reasonably fill. Perhaps time would help with that.


	3. Reflections

**Author Notes:** I quickly drafted this chapter when the idea first came to me, left it for a week, then came back to it and realized that there were some things in it that not even I understood; I did my best to fix it, but I probably failed miserably. So if this chapter sounds like utter nonsense and you can't make sense of it, just let me know and I'll rewrite it.

ALSO, shout-out to **Crystia** whose fanfic "Ultima Vale" I decided to make canon for _this_ fanfic, because it was just that awesome and inspiring. You should totally read it: s/9085443/1/Ultima-Vale. Even if you don't, this chapter will still make sense; at least, as much sense as it can. ^_^

* * *

Seto Kaiba was dreaming again, but it wasn't one of his recurring dreams. It was different this time. It was just him and Priest Set, facing each other in what felt like a formless black void. After their visit to Egypt, he'd remembered how the ancient priest had helped him to reassemble the pieces of his shattered heart when Yami Yugi had punished him with the penalty game, so he had a new respect for him that he'd not had the first time they met.

"How did you make the pain go away?" Seto asked quietly. He didn't have to specify what he was talking about; the priest already knew every aspect of Seto's heart and soul, and as disturbing as that was, it also meant that they could cut the crap and get right to business. "How did you move on?"

"I didn't," came the tart reply from the tanned priest, who strode forward until he was less than an arm's length away from his reincarnation. "You, however, cannot follow in my footsteps."

"Why not?" Seto demanded resentfully, sounding a bit more like the arrogant child he'd been at their first encounter.

"Because you've spent your whole life alone like this, and you have much more time ahead of you and many more prospects than I ever did," he answered with a wry smile of amusement. "Have some fun, Kaiba. Go to a party, meet a girl, enjoy yourself."

"You don't get it, do you!" Seto yelled at the priest in frustration, unshed tears blurring his vision. "It's not about that at all!"

Set smiled at him sadly. "Oh, I do get it, but I think you need to consider the other aspect as well. You'll never move forward if you keep looking back."

Seto felt his gut wrench as the priest revealed to him that he'd been so changed as to live in opposition to his nominal life motto: to move forward and never look back, to be concerned only with the future and not with the past. It made him feel even lower than he already did. "Great pep talk, this is really helping," he snapped at him, sounding sarcastic and snide as he raked his hand through his hair in a nervous habit.

"Don't do that," the priest retorted with a frown. He couldn't have the CEO relapsing back into his old habits and attitudes, not after he'd made so much progress. "You're not like that anymore, Seto. You're just too tired and sad to be angry anymore."

"This is why I _preferred_ being angry to being sad. At least I can harness anger and use it constructively as an impetus for action. Sadness doesn't do anybody any good," Seto sneered, angry with himself and his own weakness more than anything else.

"That may be so, but your pride and anger were hurting your younger brother, not just your relationship with him," the priest retorted. "Mokuba's a good kid. If you'd stayed the way you were, you could have turned him into someone just like you, or worse, like Gozaburo."

Seto growled at the mention of his step-father's name. "Why can't that damned tyrant get out of my life for good? He's been dead for so long, you'd think I'd be free of him by now."

Set chuckled. "You still have much to learn, young Seto," he said sagely. "And until you learn from those memories, they won't leave you alone."

"Is that why you're here? To help me learn those lessons too?" Seto asked, the animosity in his voice ebbing, though not retreating completely.

"You're on your own now, Kaiba. You're not a child anymore. I'm here merely to tell you that you have more lessons to learn so that you can figure them out for yourself. Good luck." The ancient priest lay a hand on Seto's shoulder as he stepped forward, pressing a brief, chaste kiss to his reincarnation's forehead.

The dream faded and swirled into a sapphire blue haze before Seto awoke. He still felt frustrated, still felt lonely, still felt sad. He rolled onto his side, searching with his eyes for his brother. He spotted him, then reached out with his long arms and tugged him into a warm embrace.

He knew they wouldn't be able to do this forever. Mokuba would grow up, become a moody teenager, go through a rebellious phase and whatnot. He'd probably go to college, unless he chose to follow in Seto's footsteps as CEO of KaibaCorp, in which case he'd be learning from his brother everything he knew, but that was unlikely. Even at his young age, Mokuba was clearly not quite of the same bent as his brother and was unlikely to change.

Seto found himself displeased to think of the future and what it held because all he could foresee with certainty was that he'd lose his only family, and then he really would be all alone. On the one hand, if Mokuba was gone, it made it more logistically feasible to have the occasional one-night stand. On the other hand, one-night stands weren't what Seto wanted; he wanted Kisara, and that was impossible. So now he was back at square one: inevitably alone for the rest of his life.

Maybe Mokuba would have a family of his own one day. That would be nice. If Seto could keep a good bond with his brother, he'd get to see that family too, watch his brother's children grow and make lives for themselves. It was the best alternative Seto could hope for, and the thought was somewhat comforting. But only somewhat.


	4. Don't Leave

When Seto awoke, he roused his younger brother, urging him to get ready for the day. As Mokuba stretched, Seto sat for a moment, rubbing his tired eyes. He was reluctant to get out of bed this morning. His whole body ached and his mind felt slow, like it was filled with a thick fog.

He was pulled from his reverie by his younger brother, who climbed into his lap and faced him, looking worried. "Seto, are you okay? You don't look like you feel very well."

"I'm fine, just tired." How many times had he said that in the past few months? Dozens, if not hundreds.

"You're face is all red, though," Mokua remarked, lifting both of his small hands to press them against his older brother's cheeks. Seto almost flinched; Mokuba's hands felt freezing. "You feel really hot, Big Brother," he said worriedly.

"I'm not hot," Seto stated with certainty, his lips twitching into a faint smile. "Your hands are just cold." He gently lifted Mokuba off of his lap, then finally got out of bed. "Time for you to start getting ready, Mokuba. If you're not ready to leave on time, you can't have a donut."

Mokuba perked up at the mention of a donut. Seto used them, on occasion, as a morning bribe to get his brother up and moving. They were effective, and Seto made sure to keep them a rare treat so that they didn't lose their value for the little boy.

As Seto stepped into a warm shower, he shivered, feeling colder than he usually did, and turned the water to a higher temperature than he usually used. Mokuba may be right. He may be getting a fever. The flu virus was going around the office again, after all. Even so, he was still going to work. So long as he was still able to drag himself out of bed to take a shower, he would be dragging himself to work as well. He didn't know what else he would do with himself without work. That was what made him a workaholic.

* * *

The day passed slowly, and Seto found everything to be just barely tolerable. He ended up taking several Advil in the course of the day, managing to keep his temper with Mokuba, but snapping grumpily at anybody else who even slightly irritated him.

It was a relief when he could finally take Mokuba home and change his clothes into something more comfortable. He still had it in him to make sure Mokuba did his homework before they settled down to their nightly movie. Seto let Mokuba pick anything he wanted to, which was uncommon, though not unheard of. For the whole duration of the movie, Mokuba kept glancing up at his brother, noting that his face was still flushed and that he hardly seemed to be paying attention to anything.

When Seto's cell phone started ringing suddenly in the middle of the movie, Mokuba glanced up at his brother instead of the phone, watching his reaction. Seto looked annoyed—nothing new—but as he began to move towards the nightstand to grab his phone, he didn't keep the pain from his expression. All of his joints ached for no apparent reason, and it hindered his movement as much as it made him frustrated for feeling weak. Mokuba quickly scrambled across the bed-covers, fetching his phone for him unasked, much to Seto's relief.

Seto even offered him a faint smile—his first all day since early that morning—as he lifted the phone to his ear. The smile was quickly replaced with a scowl as he realized it was a telemarketer. He growled unintelligibly as he hung up and tossed his phone onto the covers at the foot of the bed, flopping down against the pillows and rubbing his eyes. Mokuba crawled over to his side and looked down at him with concern.

"Seto, you're sick. You know you are, and I know you are, so stop trying to hide it." Mokuba's words were too wise for his age. "You need medicine and sleep."

"Ach, you're right," Seto admitted grudgingly, lifting a hand to tousle his brother's raven-colored hair. "Bring me the bottle of Advil on the kitchen counter and a bottle of water from the fridge." Mokuba immediately scampered away to do as he was told, returning quickly and handing the requested items to his now-upright brother. Seto used the water to knock back four Advil, then let Mokuba take the both bottles from him and put them on the nightstand.

"Now it's time for you to go to bed, Seto," Mokuba said authoritatively.

"But I'm not tired," Seto protested weakly as he barely suppressed a yawn. Mokuba would have none of it, and for once Seto let himself be taken care of, bending to another's will. Mokuba turned off the TV and tucked Seto into bed, kissing his forehead and wishing him goodnight, but as he turned to leave, Seto grabbed his arm.

"You're not staying?" Mokuba looked down at his feverish elder brother, conflicted and confused. It was only recently that his brother had begun to express affection physically, but now almost verbally as well? It was strange. Mokuba wasn't used to it, wasn't used to seeing his brother needing someone else, being anything other than self-sufficient.

"If I stay, I might get sick too," Mokuba explained with a small smile. He gently dislodged Seto's hand from his arm, slipping it back under the covers. "But I'll stay home with you tomorrow so that I can help you get better. I'll even skip my schoolwork so that I can take care of you!" Mokuba grinned cheekily, then gave his brother another reassuring kiss. Seto looked… upset, maybe? Mokuba had no name for the unhappy expression his brother wore.

After murmuring his last few reassurances, Mokuba slipped out of his brother's room in order to go to bed.

* * *

Seto was tossing and turning with an escalating fever all night long. For once, Seto sincerely wished that he kept sleeping pills on hand. He would sleep fitfully for an hour or so, then wake up from hazy nightmares of Gozaburo and Noa. His heart would pound wildly, fear of losing his true brother and being left all alone in this world inflating in his fevered hallucinations.

When Mokuba woke up the next morning, he was shocked to find his brother curled up on the floor in a shivering, sweating ball at the foot of his bed. This was bad, worse than he'd thought. Now he was really worried about Seto. He couldn't get his brother to wake up or to move from his spot on the floor, so he decided to get help. He called the highly-trained nurses that Seto kept on call for KaibaCorp and his own personal use.

They said they'd be there as soon as possible, and while Mokuba waited for them, he curled up on the floor beside his brother, burying his face in his brother's back. Fear was beginning to grip his heart as he worried over Seto. He prayed that this was nothing too serious, that Seto would get better quickly. He couldn't afford to lose his big brother.

He wondered about how Seto had gotten into his room, and why. He'd probably crawled there; he was in no state to be walking. But why would he do such a thing? Did he really need Mokuba's presence that desperately in order to sleep well at night? Or was he still just paranoid about the boy's safety? Or was it simply a manifestation of the emotional neediness he'd been hiding for so long? Mokuba couldn't begin to fathom his brother's mind.


	5. Hello

It turned out that Seto's fever was high enough that, under normal circumstances, he would be hospitalized. The two nurses who'd arrived to tend to him, however, could give him all the same care that he'd get from the hospital. Those were the standing orders Seto had in place: that unless he and/or Mokuba was in need of immediate surgery or care that couldn't be provided outside of a hospital, they were to be cared for in their own home. The nurses soon had Seto back in his own bed and hooked up to an IV. While one of them asked Mokuba about his brother's symptoms, the other put a cold compress on her employer's sizzling forehead.

According to his little brother, Seto had been complaining about headaches for the past few days, but that was nothing new. The previous morning, he'd seemed flushed to Mokuba, but Seto had gone to work as usual. That evening, he'd seemed achy and reluctant to move. When he did move, he'd moved a little slower, a little more carefully than normal, as if he wasn't sure of his balance. He'd cleared his throat somewhat often, as if it were sore.

They were able to diagnose him with a severe case of the flu, and their first concern at that point was Mokuba's own well-being. Mokuba had informed them that yes, Seto had made him get a flu vaccine, but Seto had refused to get one himself. They rolled their eyes upon hearing this. Typical male, typical Kaiba. At least it meant that they could keep Mokuba in the apartment with his brother. They took turns in tending to the billionaire and tending to the billionaire's brother, making sure that he was fed and did his school work.

Mokuba, as worried as he was about Seto, was also getting frustrated. They wouldn't give him many details about his brother's state when he asked, so he had to resort to eavesdropping on them. His brother's fever was over 104` and getting steadily higher. He'd only truly woken up maybe once or twice throughout the day on his own, every other time it was when the nurses forced him awake to make him take his medicine and to coax him into drinking more water. They attempted to make him eat, but were unable to sway their stubborn patient. The rest of the time, he suffered in the throes of feverish nightmares, the worst dreams possible. He fought to suppress them, but as his fever increased, his dreams invaded his waking moments as hallucinations. Throughout the day, at a couple of different times, the nurses attending him were switched out with new arrivals.

In the evening, though, when Mokuba was beta-testing one of KaibaCorp's most recently developed games in order to keep his mind off of the situation, a doctor came to visit, replacing the two nurses on duty. Mokuba thought it odd that she chose to stay here alone for the night, without a partner, but didn't think too much of it. She was kind yet firm when she came to put Mokuba to bed, and he decided that he liked her more than he liked the others. He drifted off to sleep, hoping that his brother would be able to do the same and rest peacefully.

* * *

The young doctor sat by Kaiba's bedside as she took his temperature, frowning at the results. 105.1'. He was getting worse. She ran a hand through his long bangs, combing them back from his face as she attempted to smooth back his messy hair. His restless sleep disturbed her too; he shouldn't be this restless, even with a fever. There must be more to it. Dreams, probably. As she watched over him, she began to sing a soft Egyptian lullaby. She hoped that the lilting melody and smooth words, though in a foreign language, would help calm him. Of course, she also hoped that he would understand it. That he would understand and remember.

* * *

Seto became vaguely aware of the song at his side, of the ancient words that were as clear to him as his native tongue. His curiosity got the better of him, and he forced open his eyes. He immediately believed what he saw to be a hallucination, yet he still felt compelled to reach out and touch the mirage. He gasped softly as his hand felt silky hair and solid flesh, and a sweet laugh greeted his ears. His breath caught in his throat, and he blinked several times, trying to confirm that his eyes didn't lie to him.

No, he wasn't dreaming or imagining things. She was here, beside him, looking like the most beautiful vision to ever walk the earth and singing more sweetly than the holiest angel.

"Kisara…" he choked out in shock, his eyes watering against his will.

"Hello, Set," she murmured, lifting a hand to cover his as it rested against her cheek. Her smile was full of warmth and understanding. "It has been too long."


	6. Sleep

"How…" was all Seto could manage to say before sudden chest pain stopped him. She gently pressed a hand to his chest, murmuring softly for him to pause and take a deep breath, slowly, until the pain passed. When the pain was gone, she moved her hand to his forehead once more and brushed aside his bangs again.

"I just came back from a trip to Egypt with the Doctors Without Borders organization. I was helping treat women who were the victims of domestic violence when I met Ishizu Ishtar." Kisara spoke slowly, calmly, as if she wanted to make her very story a lullaby for him. "She was volunteering as a translator, but even though I've never learned Egyptian, I had no problem understanding it. She and I became friends, and when I started having visions, I confided in her. She was able to help explain them to me, and eventually she showed me some things that helped me remember it all. I met her brothers, and they told me about you and the Battle City tournament and all of it." She smiled sadly. "All this time I was working for KaibaCorp as one of your doctors, and I didn't even realize that I knew you." She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead and sighed disapprovingly. "You're burning up, Seto. Have you ever had the flu before, maybe as a child or even as an infant?"

"No, never," he murmured, still staring at her in awe. Still trying to process the fact that she was right here in front of him, he hadn't yet reached the point of hating himself for being too ill to even kiss her properly.

"Have you ever even had a cold? Stomach flu? A twenty-four-hour bug?" She asked, somewhat dubious. He shook his head faintly, and she dropped her hand from his forehead to his own hand, locking their fingers together so that he could give her hand a faint squeeze."And you've never gotten a flu vaccine?" Again, he shook his head. "That means that you don't have an antibodies in your system to help you fight the virus, which is why you've reached such a severe state so quickly."

"Why did you become a doctor?" he asked softly, gazing up at her with those sapphire eyes that photographs could never quite do justice to.

Kisara blushed. "When my little brother was born, I was eight years old, and I was in the delivery room with my mother. My father was holding her hand, and I wanted to watch. Mom thought I'd be grossed out, but I kept asking, and she got sick of saying no. That was when I knew what I wanted to do with my life." She glanced down at Seto with a blush. "I didn't end up specializing in that field, but I did specialize in pediatrics, which is why I'm here for you now." Seto had pulled their clasped hands closer to his head, his eyes half-closing as he listened to her story. Kisara took this as a reminder that, sick as he was, he needed sleep. "Now, it's time for you to take your medicine and go back to sleep. You won't get better if you don't sleep."

"Sleep is for the weak," Seto grumbled automatically. That had been his motto for a long time, and although he was better at getting sleep now, he wasn't fully convinced of its necessity.

Kisara gave him a mildly disapproving glare. "You have insomnia," she stated, confident enough in her deduction to not ask him if she was right.

"It hasn't been so bad this past month," he defended, pausing as his breathing became difficult again. He managed past the discomfort, squeezing her hand as he did so. Her expression returned to one of concern.

"Still, you need to sleep, Seto," she insisted. "If you get much worse, I'm not sure if I'll be able to justify keeping you out of the hospital." Seto's face twisted in distaste in response to this, and she felt that she'd found her bargaining point. "So if you want to stay out of the hospital, you need to get better, and in order to get better, you need to take your medicine and get some sleep." She gently released his hand as she turned to the nightstand and began to portion out the pills for him, jotting down on a chart how many of what medication he was taking and making note of the time. It was standard procedure in order to avoid accidental overdose. She helped him sit up before handing him the pills and a bottle of water. Seto accepted them wordlessly, taking all of the pills but one, which he handed back to her.

"I don't need a sleep aid," he said stubbornly, his eyes flashing with amusement as a faint smirk tugged at his lips. He'd known it for what it was because none of the nurses had given it to him throughout the day, and she had just been telling him off for his reluctance to sleep.

Kisara sighed and took it back from him, along with the water. "Well, I figured it was worth a shot," she said, not even attempting to hide or apologize for what she'd done. Seto lay back down, looking vaguely troubled.

"Are you going to stay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm on duty all night, so yes," she answered honestly. He seemed content with the answer, for the time being. He sought out her hand once more, and she offered it, holding his tightly as she brushed the pad of her thumb across the back of his hand. He stared at the ceiling, now fighting just to keep his eyes open.

"I still can't believe that you're here," he murmured, sounding sleepier by the moment. It simply took too much energy for him to focus on conversation for as long as he had when the illness was taking such a toll on him. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," she whispered back, hesitating for only a moment before she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Now go to sleep, Seto. I'll be here when you wake up."

It didn't matter how intelligent or rich he was, or how strong was his willpower. Not even Seto Kaiba could withstand the symptoms of a severe case of influenza.


	7. Cute

**Author Notes:** This chapter has a YGOTAS reference. If you don't watch YGOTAS, you won't have any trouble understanding the chapter, but if you do, I hope it just makes the chapter that much more enjoyable for you.

* * *

Seto slept fitfully through the night, which was what Kisara had expected. She hadn't anticipated the night terrors, though. He only had one that night, but it worried her. Even as tired and sick as he was, he wasn't able to go back to sleep after it until she sang him a lullaby. She couldn't remember Set ever being afraid of anything, except losing her, but then again, Seto and Set weren't quite the same. Therein lay the difficulty.

She and Set had fallen in love in ancient Egypt. Now here they were, reincarnated, but besides that, they were virtual strangers, even though she knew something of his life from the media and he knew something of hers from what she'd told him last night. They _were_ strangers, and it was impossible for them to pick up where they'd left off. Even so, Kisara's heart was already aching for Seto, her ancient love rekindling rapidly. If she were any judge of people, she'd say that Seto was feeling the same way. What could they do, then?

She chastised herself for being so wrapped up in a matter that was relatively unimportant. What mattered the most right now was his recovery. Although many people forgot this in modern times, influenza was a disease that could kill you all too easily, especially when it wasn't caught earlier on. Seto's health and survival were in her hands, and if she was to help him, she needed to remain focused.

Then again, she reminded herself, a patient's morale was as relevant to their recovery as was their medications. It was important to keep his spirits up, to make him happy, and if she had the power to reasonably do so, she would.

Kisara glanced at the clock. 6:57 a.m. It was time to wake Seto again and get him to take his medicine. It was also time for her to leave for the day, to catch some sleep of her own, shower, eat, then come back to do it all over again.

She roused him gently, going through the routine with him easily enough. They'd done it twice last night, and he was becoming accustomed to it. When he lay back down, she stood up and announced that she was leaving shortly, but that the nurses would be arriving at any moment.

"No," Seto said, looking up at her with an inscrutable expression.

"No?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"Stay. Don't leave." He sounded so meek, it was truly pathetic. Pathetic enough that Kisara almost gave in to his request. She knelt beside his bed so that she was at his eye level, and took his nearest hand in both of her own.

"Seto, I promise that I will be back this evening to look after you again tonight. Until then, you and Mokuba will be in good hands. If anything happens, like if they end up needing to move you to the hospital, they _will_ call me and I'll come as quickly as possible. I'm coming back, Seto, I'm not leaving for good." She smiled warmly, hoping that her words had been enough to reassure him.

"This still feels like a dream," he muttered, half to himself. "I keep thinking that I'll wake up and find that you were never here at all."

Kisara's eyes softened as she came to recognize anguish in his face. It occurred to her that perhaps he was so afraid of her not coming back because in their last lifetime, she'd been the one to leave him prematurely. He was afraid of losing her all over again. She kissed his hot cheek tenderly, her lips lingering for a moment before she pulled back.

"If that still doesn't prove to you that this isn't a dream, I could pinch you if you like." She offered him a smirk worthy of the Kaiba name, and he actually managed to chuckle. She stood carefully, giving his hand one last squeeze as she said, "Goodbye, Seto. I'll see you later."

"Goodbye, Kisara."

She released his hand and reluctantly left the room. In truth, she didn't want to leave him any more than he wanted her to leave. The only difference was that she was using her head to make her decisions at the moment, not her heart. She entered the kitchen and handed the two nurses the clipboard where she'd logged Seto's temperature, medication intake, and when she'd had to change his IV. She gave them clear, brief instructions before grabbing her purse from the counter and walking towards the door to leave. She was stopped by a young voice calling for her.

"Kisara?" It was Mokuba, sleepy-eyed but awake, even at such an hour.

"Yes, Mokuba, is everything alright?" she asked, turning to face him.

"How's my brother?" He looked worried, and for a moment, Kisara contemplated whether to give him the straight up truth or to soften it a bit for him, since he was still just a child. There was a look in his eyes, however, that told Kisara that Mokuba could handle the truth, that he preferred the truth.

"I wish we could have caught it sooner, because it's gotten pretty bad. He's going to get better, but he's going to get worse before it gets better." She approached Mokuba and crouched down to get closer to his level. "Do you think you can do something important for me, Mokuba?" He nodded, looking curious as his interest was piqued. "I need you to do your absolute best to cheer your brother up, today. Since you're vaccinated, you should be safe from the flu. He'll be sleeping a lot today, so you could be doing your homework in his room and just wait for him to wake up. When he's awake, talk to him about things he likes, maybe even put on a movie or something. Keeping him happy is just as important as having him take his medicine. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Mokuba nodded, looking eager. "I can do that!" Kisara smiled at him in approval, hoping that her plan worked.

* * *

When Kisara returned to the Kaiba's apartment that evening, she was glad that she hadn't been called in earlier in the day, because that meant that he hadn't reached a critical state.

When she entered Seto's bedroom, she had to smile at what she saw. Mokuba and Seto were cuddled up together in the bed, the large TV screen showing the credits to a movie she couldn't identify. She turned the TV off, then took her place in the chair at his bedside. They looked so peaceful together she hated the idea of disturbing either of them. As she inspected the clipboard with the day's info log, she noted that Seto looked somewhat better, despite his fever being slightly higher than it had been yesterday. She suspected that it would have been even higher if not for the medicine. Usually you were supposed to let a fever burn itself out, but Seto's fever was too high, and they couldn't afford to let it get any higher.

One of the nurses had taken note of when Seto had taken a shower that afternoon, also taking note of the fact that he'd collapsed afterward, requiring Mokuba's help to get back to bed, but spurning both nurses. She remembered how much Set hated needing anybody's help. Apparently Seto was the same way.

Mokuba was the first to stir as Kisara tried to project in her mind how much longer it would take for Seto to recover. He blinked open his eyes and lifted his head, looking up at Kisara with a smile, which she returned with equal warmth.

"Did you have dinner yet?" she asked quietly. He shook his head. "How about I make us something then?" He nodded and moved to climb out of bed, but Seto's arm tightened around him even as he slept. Mokuba grinned sheepishly, managing to look proud of himself at the same time.

"Seto has a hard time sleeping without me," he whispered in explanation.

"How cute," she remarked with a smile before she remembered to censor herself in front of his younger brother. "Then how about I make us some grilled cheese sandwiches and bring them here?" Mokuba nodded, and she left to go make dinner for them. She left the door open so that she could keep an eye on them, and as she enjoyed the domestic act of preparing food, she began to sing.

Seto stirred, soon waking as well. "Is that Kisara?" he mumbled, hearing the singing, and Mokuba rolled over onto his back so that he could face him.

"Yep," he answered, wearing a smug grin. Seto looked at him curiously.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked.

"Do you want to know what Kisara said about you?" Mokuba was delighted that he finally knew something Seto didn't, and he planned on lording it over his brother for as long as he could. When Seto grinned mischievously and started to tickle Mokuba, though, making the child laugh uncontrollably, he had to yield.

"She said you're cute," he whispered, relishing the secret as much as a middle school girl would. When he noticed Seto's face get redder than it already was, he couldn't help but tease him for it. "Do you like her?" he whispered, unaware that his laughter might have attracted Kisara's attention. Seto was flustered, and pulled Mokuba back into their spooning position. As much as he wished he could sound surly, he couldn't hide the smile and amusement from his voice.

"Shut up, Mokuba."


	8. Laughter Is Medicine

Kisara was pleased to hear Mokuba and Seto laughing together as she prepared dinner. Laughter was the best medicine, and she had the feeling that Seto hadn't laughed nearly enough in the course of his life so far. She was getting sandwiches prepped for making grilled cheese when she heard Mokuba cry out from the other room. She dropped what she was doing and wiped her hands on a towel as she rushed to Seto's room, calling, "Is everything alright?" She walked in to find that Seto had tried to walk and collapsed, only to have Mokuba try and catch him. Kisara rushed forward and put her arms under Seto's, bringing him back to a standing position. "You need to stop trying to stand, Seto. You're still very sick," she chastised as she began to guide him back to bed.

"Nonsense, I feel fine," he protested, even as he leaned against her for support. Kisara couldn't help but laugh, and hearing her laugh made Seto smile. Their eyes met, and for a moment, it felt like no time had passed at all since they'd last been like this. Mokuba may only be a child, but he saw that moment and recognized it as something profound and rare.

If Seto was honest with himself, there was a part of him that had known he wouldn't be able to walk all the way to the kitchen, although if he'd managed to do so, it would have impressed her. The other option was that he collapsed and she had to help him to bed, which was the way things went, and it was still a victory for Seto. He didn't mind being close to her like this, although he _was_ bothered about being too weak and sick to do anything about it.

" _You_ are going to wait _here_ while I make dinner. Mokuba, don't let your brother do anything stupid." Kisara said it all with a warm smile, but still raised an eyebrow at Seto, showing that she was serious.

"I won't!" Mokuba chimed, eager to be given responsibility over his brother.

"Good, I'm counting on you," Kisara said encouragingly, then went back to the kitchen to finish cooking. Mokuba turned around and grinned at his brother, who was still smiling stupidly as he gazed at the spot Kisara had disappeared from.

"You like her a _lot_ ," Mokuba observed with growing excitement. He'd never seen his brother so gaga over _anybody_ , and he was enjoying seeing him act so… silly, so juvenile, so much like the teenager he never really got to be.

"Go help Dr. Kisara make dinner, Mokuba," Seto said, trying to hide the fact that he was so flustered.

"But she told me to make sure you're not stupid," Mokuba responded cheekily.

"That's not what she said, and you know it," Seto said, raising an eyebrow. "Did you finish doing all of your homework today?"

Mokuba toed the carpet as he looked at the floor, and Seto sighed. "She said that it was my job to keep you happy today," Mokuba defended.

"But you didn't finish your homework," Seto observed. "Go on and finish it up so that you're done before dinner," he ordered, and Mokuba nodded. He couldn't stand to disappoint Seto, especially when he knew that Seto himself had had a much harder schooling than what Mokuba was getting. He knew now just how fortunate he was that Gozaburo was no longer around. He went up to Seto and lay his hand on his brother's shoulder, kissing his forehead.

"If you need anything, call us," he said before trotting out of the room. Seto let out a sigh and rolled over, pulling a pillow over his throbbing head. His head had begun to ache since his first attempt at standing. It had readily grown until it was getting hard for him to keep smiling. His smiles and laughs hadn't been fake, but they had hidden pain.

* * *

"Mokuba, didn't I tell you to keep an eye on your brother?" Kisara asked as she flipped one of the grilled cheese sandwiches.

"He told me to do my homework," he answered as he settled his textbook and papers at the counter. Kisara remained silent for the time being, but when the grilled cheese was done, she put it on a plate and turned the stove off and handed the plate to the child before going to visit Seto. She entered quietly and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to rub his shoulder reassuringly.

"How are you feeling, Seto?" she asked quietly.

"Headache," came his muffled voice from underneath the pillow.

"Is it bad?" she asked gently. He simply grunted assent, which was good enough for her. This somewhat confused her. "The medicines we have you taking should help with a headache as well." That got no reaction from him. She picked up the clipboard from the nightstand and looked over it. "You _have_ been taking the medications, haven't you?" No response for several moments, then one of his hands slipped under the pillow on the bed beside him and came back out with a number of pills cupped under it. She scooped them up into her hand and counted them.

"Seto Kaiba, you have no right to halve your dose on your own authority." She was disappointed, but at the same time, she knew that he could have done something much worse. "No wonder your fever is still going up. You do know that if a fever gets as high as 107 degrees or higher it can cause _permanent_ brain damage. I expect that you won't continue doing this now that you know that."

Seto shivered, and she suddenly regretted chastising him so harshly. She put the pills away where they belonged, then contemplated what she ought to say next. Instead of trying to rouse him, she lay herself down on her stomach beside him, turning her head to face him and carefully lifting up the pillow that covered his head.

"This reminds me of the time when you hurt your ankle playing in the river and insisted on walking on it all the way home. Do you remember that?"

She caught a glimpse of sapphire eyes and a sly smile underneath the pillow's shadow. "Yeah, I do," he whispered. "Do you remember the time you tried to pretend that a rock was a baby, and your mother wouldn't let you keep it in the house, so you gave it to me to hold onto?"

Kisara giggled. "I can't believe you remember that!"

"Of course I do. All the memories have come back." There was a moment of silence for Kisara to blush, then he said quietly, "You really wanted to have kids, didn't you?"

Kisara nodded as a tender smile formed across her lips. "Yeah, I really did. I still do." His hand slid across the sheet and held hers tentatively. She turned her hand over and intertwined their fingers. They didn't need any words in that moment. It was one of those times when souls spoke directly to each other, when something spiritual and metaphysical happened that defied logic. "No more skimping on your meds, Seto. You have people here who need you to get better."


	9. Promise

That night, his fever finally reached its peak at 106.2 degrees. By this point, Seto could no longer maintain his grasp on consciousness and reality, but Kisara had to admit that she was impressed with how long he'd held out against the feverish madness that should've taken him much sooner. She stayed up all night by his side, and Mokuba tried to do the same, beginning to sense that his brother was in some kind of danger. Mokuba wasn't like Seto, though: he wasn't an insomniac who'd trained his body to go for abnormally long periods of time without sleep; he was a growing adolescent boy, and his body demanded sleep from him before midnight came. She lifted Mokuba gently out of his chair and carried him to the far end of Seto's broad bed. There was more than enough room for the two of them to sleep on it together without risk of them getting too close. Perhaps it might have been safer to take Mokuba to his own room, but she didn't want to separate the two brothers when they were all the family they had in this world at the end of the day.

As his high fever induced vivid dreams to entertain his distracted mind, Seto would speak in his sleep. Mostly it was incoherent gibberish. Occasionally he would say something intelligible, which more often than not was something amusingly nonsensical. She grew concerned when he began to cry out in his sleep, shouting in panic and pain.

"Shhh, Seto, it's alright, you're alright," she crooned reassuringly, clasping his nearest hand in both of hers. It wasn't enough to get through to him, though, and he woke up less than a minute later, shouting something too frantic for her to make sense of it. At the moment, she'd been too preoccupied with trying to calm him down to focus on his words. His eyes flew open, and he gripped her hand with a vice grip that made her start. There was a wild look in his eyes, and it took her a moment to identify the emotion for what it was: abject terror. It was so foreign to both Seth and Seto—or was it simply to him?—that she didn't recognize it right away. She was used to fever patients hallucinating, experiencing upsetting dreams, even crying out in their sleep. She was used to their nonsense and gibberish, but she wasn't prepared to hear what Seto said next.

"Don't let him get me."

"I won't, Seto. You're _safe_." She kissed the back of his hand as his grip loosened a little. "You're safe here, my dear. Don't be afraid." Seto, who'd tensed when he cried out, gradually relaxed and sank back into the mattress. He still wore an expression of fear as if he were being held at gunpoint, as if there were a knife being held to his throat. Kisara's breath hitched, but she kissed his hand again and murmured quiet comfort to him until he finally sank back into troubled sleep. Who was it that he was so afraid of?

* * *

Kisara caught a crumbling Kaiba in her arms, letting out a laugh. "Seto, you need to stop trying to stand on your own. It's still too soon! You'll wear yourself out!" The words were meant as a chastisement, but her voice wasn't at all scolding. She couldn't bring herself to scold him when she was so relieved to see him doing so well. His fever was almost gone, and though he'd need a day or two to fully recover, it was clear that he was going to be fine.

Besides, who could act cross when they had the imposing, proud CEO of KaibaCorp grinning crookedly and blushing adorably in her arms? She was one of the few people in the whole world who'd ever seen Seto Kaiba in such a vulnerable state, which meant that she was one of the few people it was impossible for him to intimidate. His arm around her shoulders and her arm around his torso, she helped him back to his bed, sitting on its edge beside him. He could have let go of her, and she of him, but neither did because neither truly wanted to.

"Seto, do you remember last night at all?" she asked out of the blue, making the brunette wrinkle his brow in thought.

"No, I think the last thing I remember clearly is when I had a headache and didn't feel like eating," he answered eventually. "Everything's really a blur after that. Why do you ask?"

"Because there was something you said last night that I was curious about," she answered honestly. "You were having a nightmare," she continued slowly, choosing her words carefully. "And you seemed pretty worked up over it, even in your sleep. When you woke up, you looked… absolutely terrified." She could feel Seto starting to stiffen in his arms. Was she touching upon a sensitive subject? "You told me not to let him get you." Her voice was even quieter as she finished, and before she could protest, Seto had disentangled himself from her and flopped onto his back on the bed, looking troubled. She looked down at him, where he lay with his eyes screwed shut.

"One disaster at a time, Kisara," he said at last, opening his eyes and giving her a weak smile. "I know you would like to save the world, but you can't do it all at once."

Kisara blushed as she leaned over him and caressed one of his hot cheeks with her cooler hands, making him gasp faintly. "I know that I can't save the whole world, but if I could save you, that would be just as good in my eyes." She kissed his forehead tentatively, and his hand clasped hers appreciatively. This was working, but they were both taking things one step at a time. If they tried to move any faster in the process of restoring their relationship, it would be too much like a pair of natural disasters colliding, causing destruction all around them.

"But you will tell me when you're fully recovered?" she clarified, raising an eyebrow at him. Seto sighed softly, then smiled at her again, those sad puppy eyes softening Kisara's heart.

"Yes, I'll tell you everything, Kisara. I promise." Seto brought her hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles as their blue eyes locked.

Mokuba peaked through the doorway to his brother's room, hidden from sight, grinning cheekily. So, he'd been right to suspect that there was something between them. Even taking his illness into account, he'd been acting strangely around Kisara. It was a sort of behavior Mokuba had never seen his brother exhibit before, and now that he understood what it meant, he was glad. His brother had been unhappy for far too long; he deserved to love and be loved.


	10. Massage

"Can I have a kiss for courage first?" Seto asked sofly, the pink that tinged his cheeks making Kisara melt inside as she leaned in and obliged. The idea of him needing courage to tell her about his nightmares—or needing courage for anything at all—was incredibly adorable. She knew that he never let himself be vulnerable with anybody but herself and Mokuba. She was beginning to wonder if it wasn't so much a survival tactic as it was genuine shyness. He'd been fully recovered for a week now, and now that he had matters at KaibaCorp under control after his hiatus, he was fulfilling his promise to Kisara that he would explain his nightmare to her.

At the moment, Mokuba was in bed and they were in Seto's room, having each just finished a glass of wine while talking over the insignificant details of their day.

As Kisara pulled back, she gazed at Seto with sadness swimming in her cerulean eyes. He straightened up as well, taking a breath before he reached down and pulled off his turtleneck in a single, fluid movement. Kisara blushed, not understanding his action until he turned around. She gasped, tentatively reaching out to lay her hands on his shoulder-blades. He shivered slightly, unused to being touched there. His scars were more sensitive than he liked to admit. They were the real reason he wore silk pajamas and had silk sheets on his bed: they irritated his scarred skin the least.

"These are… really bad," she whispered, understanding all too well how to interpret the scar tissue. "They're old, too. How did you…?"

"Gozaburo," he answered quietly. Kisara bit her lip.

"I don't remember anything like this happening in Egypt," she answered quietly.

"We're not in Egypt anymore," Seto answered quietly. "We're never quite the same from one lifetime to another, though some things seem to remain constant."

"What do you mean? Do you remember a lifetime beyond Egypt?" Kisara asked, amazed.

Seto's eyes narrowed in thought as he worked hard at the shadowy corners of his ancient memories. "Do you remember anything from… Atlantis?"

The sound of the name brought back a few, broken, faded images to Kisara's mind, new, older memories that she struggled to hold onto. "You had blonde hair then, yes? And your eyes…" She cupped his cheek thoughtfully, trying hard to focus. "They were... indigo?"

"And your eyes were green…" he murmured, leaning close to touch noses with her. The slight movement was enough to tell Kisara that his back was tight and full of knots. Her cheeks turned pink as well, and she pecked his lips, not intending for the kiss to last any longer, but he managed to make it last and linger, carefully turning round in her arms so that he could pull her close to his chest. She brought her hands to his shoulders, stroking him gently until they parted.

"Seto," she murmured as he nuzzled his head against hers and she returned the gesture.

"Hm?" he grunted, his lips brushing against her softly.

"Can I please give you a massage?" she asked hopefully. "I can tell that you really need it, and I'll bet you never let anybody touch your back, do you?" He was silent for a moment, and he stopped nuzzling in against her neck to be still for a few moments. She tentatively embraced him, his scars rough and uneven under her fingers.

Finally, he nodded, and Kisara could practically feel the gift of trust he'd given her, like a glass trinket pressed coolly into her palm. She swore to herself in that moment that she would never let him regret anything from this point forward. He'd obviously been hurt in the past—emotionally _and_ physically—and she wanted that pain to stay in the past.

She found herself faced with quite a challenge as she set about massaging his back, for it was clear that it had _never_ been worked on at all, not even by a chiropractor, not that that would have made too much of a difference.

"Relax, Seto. If you keep tensing up, it'll hurt more." She chastised him as gently as possibly, waiting for him to do as told before she continued, moving to a new spot, only to have him cry out and curl around the spot on his side. She giggled. "You're ticklish there, aren't you?" He turned his head to the side, and his blush spoke for him. She lay herself out beside him, as she'd done when he was sick, and looked into his deep blue eyes.

"I love you, Seto," she whispered, her spirit moved by the intimacy of the moment.

"And I love you, Kisara," he answered, kissing her cheek and pulling her up close to his side.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** Sorry for the short chapter. I wrote a bonus Familiarshipping (Kisara x Critias) scene for this fanfic, which I posted in my Miscellaneous One-Shots collection. If you're curious, you should go check it out!


	11. Fitting

The more Kisara thought about it, the more she could remember Atlantis, although she didn't have a recollection of events much better than Seto's. His name in that time had been Critias; they could remember that much. Kisara was unable to remember her own, or even much about her own lifetime in Atlantis, but she could remember pieces of Seto's that he didn't.

"I know I was an orphan," Kisara said thoughtfully as she snuggled against Seto on the couch, holding her mug of hot chocolate in both hands. "I was begging on the streets. One night it rained hard… I found shelter in a stable."

"You fell asleep in the hayloft of the royal stables," Seto continued, one arm around her shoulders. "I found you the next morning and took you to the palace physician."

"That's right… you were a squire then," Kisara added, proud of herself for remembering. Seto snorted.

"I was little more than a stable-hand at that point," he corrected with a note of self-derision, glancing at his laptop bag leaning against the leg of the kitchen table. He fought the compulsive urge to return to work, though. He finally had Kisara back in his life. He didn't need to work every waking moment now that he had her. "And you were half-dead when I found you. It's a miracle you survived. Have you thought about what I asked you yesterday?" he asked, changing the subject.

"About attending the gala, you mean?" Kisara clarified. "Yes, I… I think I want to go," she said, blushing and sounding a little less than confident, which Seto picked up on quickly.

"You know, you don't have to go if you don't want to," he said quickly. "I don't want you to feel any pressure. I remember how you never really liked big crowds or parties."

"I don't feel pressured, Seto," she assured sweetly, touched by his concern. "I really _do_ want to go with you and Mokuba to the gala. Speaking of Mokuba, he should probably get a haircut. His mane is getting unmanageable, and I doubt he'd appreciate it if I started braiding his hair to keep it tame."

Seto chuckled at that and kissed her cheek. "I'll take care of Mokuba, don't you worry," he promised. "In the meantime, we need to get you fitted for a dress."

"Fitted?"

"Yes. Yesterday you said you'd never been to a formal gala before, so I figured you didn't have a fitting dress to wear to it." Kisara blushed deeply, and Seto followed suit, holding back the urge to smack himself in the forehead. "I didn't mean fitting like _that_ ," he protested, seeking to explain himself. Kisara giggled and set down her hot chocolate on the coffee-table before rising to her knees and wrapping her arms around Seto's neck and peppering his face with kisses.

"You're adorable, you know that?" she said warmly, amused by the whole thing.

"Actually, no, you're the first to say that," Seto said, embarrassed as he answered her rhetorical question. She smiled down at him as she caressed his face and graced him with a full kiss. With an arm around her waist, he guided her onto his lap, deepening it gradually. They let it end a minute later, and she relaxed into his embrace, shifting her legs so that she could sit across his lap rather than straddle it. She closed her eyes, and for a little while, they just enjoyed each other's presence.

"Seto, what's the gala for again?" she asked as she toyed with his hair, him doing the same with her loose white locks.

"Pegasus is hosting the gala at his castle on his private island to encourage more cooperation and collaboration between gaming corporations that produce classic gaming products and video games," Seto explained patiently. "The alliance between KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions was revolutionary and has led to significant mutual success. Pegasus is trying to encourage the same among similar companies from all over the world of various sizes. Duke and Yugi were also invited, Duke because he's the inventor of Dungeon Dice Monsters and Yugi because he's the King of Games and World Champion of Duel Monsters, so you'll finally get to meet them there." His expression turned sour. "Zigfried von Shroeder of ShroederCorp will also be there, but I'll make sure don't have to hang around him much. Or at all."

Kisara smiled at Seto's protectiveness. She knew about his past with Zigfried and how he despised the man who'd almost ruined the second Duel Monsters tournament hosted by KaibaCorp. She also knew how much he loathed the pink-haired German and how his father had used Zigfried as a way of motivating him.

"For those invited who are not as affluent as I, Pegasus has arranged for a cruise-ship to take his guests to the island. We will be flying in instead."

"Why not take the cruise-ship?" she proposed. "We can make it a mini vacation. You know you need the break from work, and Mokuba will have fun. I'm sure that security will be decent, so he should be safe enough. And if Yugi and Duke are there, then we can ask them to keep an eye out for him, maybe watch him for a while so that you and I can have some time alone?"

" _No way_ am I asking Yugi to do that," Seto replied, his cheeks turning crimson at the thought. Kisara smirked—something she'd learned from Seto.

"The gala is in a month, right?" she asked with a sly smile. He nodded. "Good. That means I have time to change your mind."

* * *

 **P.S.** The references to Atlantis and Critias are rooted in Season Four of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, so go watch that or read the wiki pages if they don't make sense to you.


	12. Dreams

**Author Notes:** I really hope this chapter makes you laugh! Enjoy!

* * *

"I just want to make you happy, so please, tell me: what do you want more than anything else?" Seto was all but pleading with Kisara as they stood together by the railing of Pegasus' cruise-ship.

"I want to marry you, Seto. Right here, right now," she answered, eyes shining.

"But we don't have a priest or a Justice of the Peace or the paperwork—" Seto protested, only to be cut off.

"That's not what a true wedding is, and you know it," she interrupted, looking mischievous. "Come on, all we need are some people to have a true wedding. Let me show you!" She took him by the hand and he reluctantly let her lead him to the main deck, where Pegasus' other guests milled about in their finery, a sparkling cocktail party. Kisara dragged Seto up onto the stage in front of the live jazz band, in front of the microphone. "I have an announcement to make! Seto and I are getting married tonight!"

The guests cheered and Seto felt paralyzed, staring wide-eyed at the assemblage of people who were here to witness it. His former classmates, his rivals, his colleagues, his competition.

"Is anybody here a certified priest? Anybody at all?" Kisara asked, and Duke Devlin stepped forward.

"I am. I'd be happy to preside over the ceremony," he said, looking all too happy about it, in Seto's opinion.

 _This can't be happening…_ Seto thought, mind numb and in shock.

"Excellent, thank you Duke!" Kisara exclaimed gratefully. "Now, we need a flower-girl and a ring-bearer. Any volunteers?"

Princess Adina and Noah Kaiba, hand in hand, stepped forward.

 _This can't be happening…_ Seto thought again, too stunned to stop this.

"Lovely! You two will do just nicely. Now, all we need is a best man and someone to give away the bride." Yugi leapt onstage wearing a tutu.

"I can be your best man, Kaiba!"

 _This can't be happening…_ No way in hell was his best man going to be wearing a tutu.

"I can give away your lovely bride for you, Kaiba-boy!" Pegasus sad, stepping forward and reaching for Kisara's hand.

"No!" Seto yelled, rushing forward to smack Pegasus' hand away, wrapping his arms around Kisara as if to protect her.

* * *

Seto sat up in bed, panting with panic. He let out a groan as he realized that it had all been a dream. He raked his fingers through his hair, something that had become something of a nervous habit recently.

"Seto?" Kisara yawned as she stirred, and he cursed himself for waking her. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, it was just a dream. Go back to sleep."

"Was it a bad dream?" she asked quietly, placing a hand on his arm. He realized that she probably thought it was one of his recurring dreams about Gozaburo.

"Yes, but not one of the usual ones," he answered honestly, bringing her hand to his lips to kiss her palm. "Don't worry about it, okay?" He lay down again, settling himself beside her under the sheets, unable to suppress a grumble against his subconscious for the content of his dream.

"What was that?" she asked asked, having heard his voice.

"It's nothing," he insisted, not wanting to think about it anymore.

"It's not nothing if you're still upset by it," Kisara said gently. "Now what was that about Pegasus?"

Seto sighed dramatically, then began to grudgingly explain what he had dreamed about—omitting the part about Yugi wearing a tutu. He had no idea what that was about it.

Kisara burst out laughing, finding the whole scenario as hilarious as Seto had found it unnerving when it happened. "That just sounds like an awful fanfiction," she finally said when she could breathe again. "Well, I can promise you this: I don't ever plan on letting Pegasus give me away at my wedding, so you can rest assured that will never happen."

Silly as it may sound, it actually made Seto feel a bit better to hear her say that. "And Duke Devlin would never be a certified priest, not even for a pagan cult of dice-worshipers," he grumbled, making Kisara burst out into laughter again.

"Well, I don't know him yet, but I'll take your word for it," she answered, her face flushed from so much hard laughter.

"And Yugi would never be my best man," he said firmly.

"I beg to differ." Seto looked over at her sharply.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, who _else_ would be your best man?" she pointed out. "Roland is the only other candidate I can think of, and even so, I doubt you'd choose him. You would never pick Joey; I've seen the way you two duel each other, and though he has a good heart and would be your friend if you tried, at the moment he still considers you to be that rich arrogant jerk you used to be." Seto winced inwardly, trying not to let it show. "You don't know Duke, Tristan, or Ryou well enough to ask any of them. It's clear that you despise Pegasus and Zigfried. So who else would you ask?"

"Mokuba," Seto answered so matter-of-factly that Kisara began to laugh again. "I'll give you something to laugh about." He smirked and began to tickle her, making her let out a shriek. She was quickly gasping for mercy, and he wrapped his arms around her, pressing chaste kisses to her bare shoulder as she regained her breath.

"Seto, a best man has to be a man," she explained, grinning despite herself. "Mokuba's still a child, no matter how intelligent, precocious, or mature he may be." He frowned in feigned grouchiness.

"Well that's not fair. Who else could I ask?"

"Yugi," Kisara answered. "Silly goose, that's what I've been trying to tell you this whole time." She looked at him a little more seriously now. "Don't you realize that since the day you met him and his friends, he believed in you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked incredulously.

"He believed in the good in you even when you didn't, even when his friends didn't, even when you gave him no reason to. You may not realize it, but I think the fact that he believed in you all along, in addition to Mokuba's influence, is what kept that goodness alive in you even after all the hell you'd been through." Seto was silent for a few moments, and Kisara peered into his face. He looked troubled, and she couldn't help but wonder if she hadn't made things worse somehow. "Seto…?"

"Let's just go back to sleep," he said quietly, pecking her cheek before closing his eyes, making an earnest effort to return to the cool oblivion of sleep.

 _ **Who I am hates who I've been…**_


	13. Strength

When Kisara returned to their apartment from the dress-fitting, she found Mokuba and Seto locked in a battle of wills that had culminated in a stalemate. They stood facing each other with silent glares, arms crossed stubbornly.

"Uh-oh, what's going on here?" she asked, glancing back and forth between the two of them.

"Mokuba doesn't want to get a haircut," Seto explained, still looking at his brother. "And I think he's far too old to be throwing a fit about this sort of thing." Mokuba stuck his tongue out at his older brother.

"Why don't you want to get a haircut, Mokuba?" Kisara asked calmly, turning to the younger Kaiba.

"I don't want my hair short," he said stubbornly.

"Well, it doesn't have to be _short_ , just _shorter_ ," Kisara said, trying to provide a compromise. Seto rolled his eyes.

" _Everything_ is too short for him," Seto pointed out in exasperation. "He won't even let me get it trimmed."

"How about you let me talk to him," Kisara suggested, making Seto sigh and assent while he went into the kitchen to make some coffee.

"Sure. Maybe you'll have better luck with him than I will."

An hour later, the two returned to the apartment with Mokuba's raven hair above his shoulders, the child's expressions alternating between sheepish and defiant. When Seto saw him, Mokuba was the first one to speak.

"I _chose_ this for myself." Mokuba lifted his chin proudly and crossed his arms.

"Good choice," was all Seto said in response, trying to keep the amusement out of his expression.

Mokuba nodded and marched off to his own room.

"How did you do that?" Seto asked in amazement as he embraced Kisara and kissed her cheek.

"It's simple," she replied with a smile. "He's reached a stage where he wishes to establish his individuality, and as such, he wishes to exercise power over all the things that he _can_ control. One of those things is his hair. That's why your usual manner of simply imposing your will over him didn't work this time."

"'Imposing my will?' You make me sound like a barbarian warlord." Seto chuckled and leaned in to kiss her neck. "You're wonderful." He licked at her pale skin and gave it a playful nip that tickled her and elicited a gasp and a giggle.

"Ah! Seto, not here," she whispered, her cheeks turning pink.

"Hm, why not?" he murmured against her skin, smiling at the way her body reacted against his.

"Because your brother's in the other room." She thought that was a fairly obvious reason for them to move out of the common area, and she was about to say so when Seto was suddenly lifting her up in his arms and tossing her over his shoulder, which made her let out a shriek of laughter. "Seto! What are you doing?"

"You said we should continue this elsewhere, didn't you?" he asked innocently, his bright blue eyes twinkling.

Meanwhile, Mokuba was in his room, putting on his chunky, noise-canceling headphones. He'd heard their laughter and understood, in his own way, what would follow.

* * *

Kisara and Mokuba were sitting on the couch together when Seto came home from work a few days later, their eyes glued to the TV in fascination.

"What are you two watching?" he asked, setting his briefcase down on the kitchen table as he walked over to stand behind the couch.

"The semi-final duels of the Battle City Tournament," Mokuba answered, glancing up at his brother before looking back at the screen. Seto only watched for a few more moments before he left the room without a word. Kisara glanced up at him as he left, worried She was well aware that Seto hated recalling that time of his life. He preferred to forget it, deny it, the same way he forgot and denied his childhood memories of Gozaburo.

She excused herself from the couch and went to join Seto in his room, closing the door behind herself.

"Seto, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." His voice came from his closet, where the door was open as he changed into something more comfortable. Kisara found the answer dissatisfying, though, and went to stand in the doorway to his closet just as he shed his shirt.

"I don't believe you." Her sapphire eyes were getting sad, and as Seto turned around to face her, he felt a pang of guilt.

"Why shouldn't I be alright?" He was doing it again, putting up walls as he pretended that everything was perfect. "Everything is going great with you, at work. Your dress for the gala is on its way, and—"

"Seto, come here." She took him by the hand once he discarded his shirt and led him back into their bedroom. She guided him to their bed and made him sit on the edge of it. "Wait here." She went to the bathroom briefly and came back with the bottle of massage oil. "You need to relax." She kissed the spot behind his ear as she started to massage his scarred back.

The massage oil was a mix she'd made herself, secretly sneaking in some ingredients that, according to herbalists and homeopathic practitioners, helped old scars to heal and fade. She hadn't told him, in case they didn't work, but she'd been using them consistently for long enough that she was starting to see results.

"You can't pretend that your past never happened," she said at last. "Once you accept it, you can actually start to move past it. You won't have to put so much energy into denying it."

"I don't think I _can_ face it," he whispered.

"I _know_ you can, Seto," she assured, handling his skin with care even as she tried her best to release the tension that was still so deeply knotted in his muscles. "You're strong. Your strength doesn't come from your pride, though. You can be even stronger without it than you are with it. Pride is not the same as self-respect. I think you've been equivocating those terms all along, though."

He breathed deeply, and she could feel a faint tremor through her hands. "I think you're right," he at last admitted. The words cost him dearly, but at the same time, he felt oddly… relieved. That was something he hadn't expected, and Kisara could feel it in his muscles.

"There, now don't you feel better?" she asked sweetly, reaching around to his sides where she started to tickle him.

"Hey!" he cried out, starting to laugh. He pulled himself away from her hands and turned around so that he could scoop her up into his arms.

"Where are we going?" she asked coyly, putting her arms around his neck affectionately.

He smiled devilishly back at her and answered, "The shower."


	14. Best Man

"So, the wedding invitations have gone out, the spaces have been booked, as well as the caterer. All of the design decisions have been made, we're just waiting for the dress to arrive and for you to pick a best man."

Seto looked at Kisara, who stood staring up at him meaningfully.

"You really think I should pick Yugi to be my best man?" he asked with uncertainty.

"I really do," she answered softly. "I just don't think Mokuba can handle the pressure of being a best man."

"Oh, well if that's your only concern." Seto stood from the kitchen table and started striding confidently towards his brother's room.

"Wait, Seto, are you sure about this?" Kisara called, rushing after him and stopping him just before he opened his brother's door.

"Of course I am. He's my best friend. He knows me better than anybody else, and he's known _us_ since the beginning."

Kisara couldn't argue with that.

"Hey Mokuba," Seto called into his brother's room after opening the door. "Will you be my best man?"

"Sure!" Mokuba answered brightly, looking pleased at the request.

"You know you have to make a speech at the reception, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

Seto looked at Kisara, 'I told you so' written all over his face. "See? He's fine with it."

"And when it comes time for your bachelor party?" she asked, one eyebrow raised at him in amusement.

"Pft, I don't need one of those," Seto said with a dismissive wave of his hand before putting an arm around his fiance. "I just need you. Both of you." He held out an arm and Mokuba scampered up to him, throwing his arms around his brother's waist.

"I just think eleven is a bit young to be a best man," Kisara murmured, half apologetic, half reluctant.

"Right," Seto snorted with amusement. "And fourteen is too young to be the president of a major corporation."

Mokuba laughed and said, "Good one, bro," while Kisara rolled her eyes.

"Have you finished packing for the trip, Mokuba?" Kisara asked, trying to redirect the conversation. "You need to finish today because we're leaving the day after tomorrow, and I don't want you to forget anything."

"Yes, _Mom_ ," Mokuba answered with a sassy flick of his hair as he released his brother.

"Is that an attitude I'm detecting?" Kisara scooped Mokuba into her arms before he could get away from her. Seto chuckled as his little brother squirmed and began to apologize. He liked watching the two of them interacting: sometimes Kisara would help Mokuba with his homework when Seto was working, stay with him in the apartment when Seto was away on business, talk him out of his moods when Seto's bluntness was ineffectual.

He leaned back against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets, watching his family with a smile. _His_ _family_. He liked the sound of that.

* * *

"This was a good idea," Seto panted, flushed.

"When will you learn that _all_ of my ideas are good ideas?" She flashed him a smile from where she lay below him, her paler skin equally flushed. He eased himself onto the bed beside her, nuzzling his head against hers as they took a bit of a break.

"I still feel bad about letting him go alone."

"He's not alone, you sent Roland with him," Kisara assured. "There is no one better to protect him in your absence."

* * *

"Hi Mokuba," Yugi greeted, still leaning against the bar. His friends, those who had been invited, were on the dancefloor. Yugi had been with them, but he'd needed a break, and Tea had decided to stay. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you," the child replied smoothly. "And you?"

"I'm doing quite well. Is your brother here? I haven't seen him yet."

"Something came up at work that delayed him. He and Kisara will be coming later, but they'll be on the island by tomorrow night."

"Congratulations, by the way," Yugi said with a smile. "I didn't think Kisara had been reincarnated, but I'm glad she was, and I'm glad that Seto's… doing better. I'm looking forward to the wedding." He'd already received the invitation and was shocked like the rest of them. Joey had been the most shocked, because he actually _did_ get an invitation as well.

"I am too." Mokuba hesitated, looking nervous, then said, "Seto asked me to be his best man a couple days ago."

"Wow. That's a big responsibility." Yugi was amazed, but then, who else would Kaiba have asked? It really wasn't a surprise.

"It is, but I'm fine with it. I've done plenty of public speaking before." He didn't seem fazed by the idea of giving a speech, but then again, he'd spoken in front of thousands of people at the KC World Championship without breaking a sweat. "I already wrote my speech for the reception, but I was wondering if you could take a look at it and help me polish it up a bit?" Mokuba looked up at the King of Games hopefully. "It's just a rough draft right now, and it needs to be looked at by someone who's had more experience with formal speeches."

"I'd be happy to do so," Yugi replied with a smile.

An hour later, Yugi and Mokuba and Roland were sitting in Mokuba's room on Pegasus' cruise ship, going through the speech Mokuba had written for the reception. First, Yugi had skimmed through it once, then gone through it again with a pencil to make notes.

"If we fix the phrasing here, we can make the parallelism a little neater," Yugi commented, underlining the sentence in question.

"How do we do that?"


	15. Checkmate

"Which tie did you say I should wear again?" Seto asked as he contemplated the two ties he had in his hands.

"The aqua one," Kisara called from the bathroom. "It matches better."

"Can I look yet?" Seto asked as he finished straightening his silk aqua tie.

"Not yet! I'm almost done," she answered. "Just one more second… done!" She stepped out from the bathroom, looking hesitant. She blushed as she said, "I don't think I've ever gotten this dressed up before, not even for prom."

Seto smiled warmly at her, walking over and kissing her rosy cheek as he twisted her bejeweled necklace around his finger.

"I was right that these would look good on you," he commented with a smug grin of satisfaction. Kisara giggled softly.

"That's because you have good taste in more than just women," she replied with a smirk of her own before pulling him down by his tie so that she could tease him with a light kiss. He wanted more but she pulled back and wagged her finger at him.

"Uhn-uh! It'd mess up my lip gloss and then I'd have to reapply it."

"That doesn't take long, right?"

"Oh, it takes ages and _ages_ …"

Her lips just barely touched his as she teased him with her nearness. After a moment of cruel temptation, she pecked his cheek and pulled away to a more respectful distance.

"We need to get going, or we might be late," she said with a twinkle in her eye. He smirked at her and held out his arm to her and she placed her hand in his elbow.

* * *

Kaiba glowered at the room filled with fine suits and sleek dresses. Mokuba, Leon, and Rebecca had run off together, so he'd sent Roland to keep an eye on them while Seto and Kisara remained among adult company. That left him with two categories of people to interact with: business partners who were either dull, annoying, or both, to various degrees; or, Yugi and his little friends. He hadn't expected so many of them to be there, actually. Yugi brought Tea as his plus one; Mai Valentine was invited because of her status as a professional duelist, and she brought Wheeler as _her_ plus one; Duke Devlin was there because he created Dungeon Dice Monsters, and he brought Ryou Bakura as his plus one (which made Kaiba wonder if he'd brought him as a friend or as a date, but he honestly didn't care enough to ask about it); and Rebecca Hawkins was present for being the American Duel Monsters champion. Then there was Siegfried.

Kaiba had to suppress his irritation as he glared at the pink-haired German from across the room. Kaiba had known that his long-time enemy would be there, but that didn't make his flamboyant presence any less unpleasant. He'd made Kisara promise that she wouldn't try to make friends with him or talk to him at all, but he wasn't letting her out of his sight all the same. Not if he could help it, that was.

Kisara. He glanced down at her as she spoke with the Hawkins girl in a pleasant, friendly manner. Rebecca seemed content to shun Seto entirely, and since he wasn't paying attention to their conversation, any attempts Kisara might make at including him would be futile.

She was confused at first by Seto's behavior once they entered Pegasus' castle, but she quickly realized that she shouldn't be confused by it at all. This was their first time attending a formal function together, and their first time coming out as a couple in front of so many acquaintances. Sure, he'd taken her to nice restaurants before and things like that, but the people who saw them there were strangers. This was different, though, especially for him.

He was in front of colleagues, enemies, and people he'd once openly scorned. Although his inner self had changed drastically since he and Yugi had last interacted, he didn't know if he wanted to show them as much, let alone how to show them without losing face. Perhaps she'd underestimated how much his pride was wrapped up in his public identity, but she'd hoped that he wouldn't be this stiff and silent. His eyes were scanning the party constantly, and he wouldn't maintain any conversation for more than a few minutes. He was polite with people, but brief with them too. Then again, he'd mostly interacted with business partners so far, entirely avoiding the younger, livelier attendees of the gala. Since he didn't seem to be paying much attention, though, Kisara was edging her way towards Yugi and his friends with Seto in tow, wondering just how much she could get away with.

First she'd talked to Rebecca, during which Seto remained uninterested and distant. Then she'd approached Duke and Ryou, introducing herself to them and graciously receiving congratulations on their engagement. Seto had blushed ever so faintly at that and murmured his thanks, which noticeably impressed his peers, making them treat him with more civility than they had last time they'd seen him. Duke asked Seto about business, which was easier for the brunette to speak about than personal matters. When that conversation ended, Kisara attempted to lead Kaiba over to where Mai and Joey were talking with Yugi and Tea, but he stopped her by leading her in the opposite direction.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a low voice that only she could hear, his sapphire eyes gazing out over her head across the room. Where had Siegfried gone? The last thing Kaiba needed was for the pompous CEO to be sneaking around and stirring up trouble. Again.

"I'm trying to befriend the people we invited to our wedding," she answered calmly, glaring at him until his eyes finally met hers. She relaxed her expression then and lifted a hand to touch his cheek, which immediately colored in response. "What's wrong? You're acting paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid," he retorted. "If I were paranoid, that would mean that I'm irrationally afraid of something bad happening. I am reasonably cautious, which means that I'm not paranoid."

Kisara's lips twitched into a wry smile and she dropped her hand from his face, not wanting to increase his discomfort with the situation. "And what are you _reasonably cautious_ about, my dear?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow at him as a gentle smile finally found its way to his face.

"We're swimming with sharks, _darling_ ," he answered, his tone warmer than before now that he was only speaking with her. "We'd be fools _not_ to be cautious."

She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Greetings, Herr Kaiba. Long time, no see."

Kaiba sighed and rolled his eyes as he muttered, "I should really get a restraining order on his ass." Kisara tried to suppress her giggles as Seto turned to face the approaching German. People cleared out of the space between them, sensing the tension that was already starting to crackle in the air between them.

"Indeed, and I was hoping that it might be longer." Seto narrowed his eyes at the other as he crossed his arms. Kisara was still at his side, and while she felt like she ought to tell him to calm down, she also thought that Siegfried's behavior at the KC Grand Prix was atrocious and that Seto was perfectly just in hating the man.

"Come now, Kaiba, don't you think we should put our petty arguments behind us?" he proposed with grandiose gestures that only made Kaiba scorn him all the more.

"I would hardly call our past conflicts petty," the brunette growled as more people turned their attention towards the standoff.

"I think it's time we put aside our differences and became friends. Doesn't that sound like a more pleasant state of affairs to you?" His proposition alone was enough to make Kaiba feel like he'd brushed up against something foul and slimy.

"I do desire that we may be better strangers." Whispers rippled through the observers as Siegfried smirked. He'd wanted a confrontation, hadn't he?

"Perhaps we should settle our differences with a game of chess," the German proposed, and Kaiba began to chuckle, then laugh aloud, much to Siegfried's annoyance.

"I won the title of Chess Grandmaster when I was a child. Do you really think I'd lose it to _you_?" His extreme confidence grated against Siegfried's own pride.

"As Grandmaster, you can't turn down a challenger, or you'd lose automatically," the president of ShroederCorp pointed out coolly before glancing over at Pegasus, who immediately ordered his servants to get a chessboard set up for the two of them. They'd become a spectacle, now, watched with curiosity by the entirety of the party. The two young businessmen glared at each other across the chessboard, then the game began.

"Pawn to E3." It was Seto's signature opening move.

"Pawn to D6."

Kaiba blinked as he heard Gozaburo's voice echo after Siegfried's, speaking the same words. He made his next move, and the game continued with occasional witty banter between the two of them. The banter eventually died out, though. Kaiba was winning, but his smirk had faded.

All evening, Seto had been struggling against his own memories, trying to suppress the sudden flashbacks he was having: Mokuba in Pegasus' dungeon; himself standing on the castle ledge; Siegfried's accusation that Kaiba'd stolen his technology; the end of the Battle City Tournament when he'd blown up the Duel Tower. Examples of awful things he'd done to others and awful things that he'd endured kept flitting through his mind, flashing before his eyes, whispering in his ears all evening. Too many reminders in one place. He wasn't nearly as calm as he looked.

This chess match had exponentially increased the amount of distress he was hiding. He should have known that Siegfried would pull a cruel stunt like this, replicating the match Seto had played against Gozaburo, the one that had changed the course of his life forever. Of course Siegfried wasn't stupid enough to think he could beat Seto at chess. He didn't want to _beat_ him; he wanted to screw with Seto's head, and he was succeeding.

Kisara could tell that something was bothering Seto. She exchanged a glance with Mokuba from across the room, and he too seemed to sense that something was off. Seto tried to blink away the images his mind was superimposing on his field of vision, but it didn't make the angry face of his step-father go away. His hand shook just once as he moved the last chess piece, almost missing the square he was aiming for.

"Checkmate." Kaiba stood as his opponent held out a hand and started saying something polite and meaningless, but Kaiba turned away and pushed past the spectators to exit the grand room and step out onto the balcony for some fresh air. Kisara and Mokuba exchanged another look, both of them wanting to have a word with the brunette they both loved dearly. They weren't the only ones.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** Only two chapters left, isn't this exciting! The next chapter will pick up right where this one left off, and the last chapter will be something of an epilogue. Sorry, no wedding scene. :/ The only time I ever got close to writing Kaiba's wedding, he was super grumpy about it all, even though he loved her. ^_^ Silly Seto. Please review and let me know what you think!


	16. Forgiveness

Seto stepped outside and kept walking, not wanting to linger where anybody could see him. He ended up standing by the very ledge where he'd stood when he started losing his duel with Yugi. He looked out over the dark forest into the night, his arms crossed as he tried to push the unwanted memories out of his mind. He looked down at his hands, no longer needing to hide their compulsive tremor now that he was alone. He glared at his own appendages before stuffing them in his pockets and just closing his eyes for a moment.

The soft sound of even footsteps approaching made him sigh softly. The punctuated footfalls on the flagstones stopped somewhere close behind him. The silence stretched out for several long moments before Seto finally spoke, reasonably expecting his companion to be Kisara. After all, who else here but Kisara and Mokuba would have followed him out here? And who else but Kisara would have waited to speak?

"I can't stop remembering." His voice was soft and anxious, expressing more emotion than most people who'd interacted with him ever heard. "He was always dragging me to these kinds of parties when I was kid. 'Straighten up, boy. Be polite.' He was never afraid to reprimand me in front of his partners." Anger touched his voice now. "I couldn't even tell you how many times he threatened to throw us out. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better that way." Unconscious of his own action, he reached across his body to rub his shoulder with the opposite hand, remembering how it would sting and ache with fresh welts whenever he was punished as a child. He dropped his hand from his shoulder with a quiet sigh.

"I always knew that something must have happened to you. Nobody acts the way you did for no reason."

Kaiba stiffened. That wasn't Kisara at all. He stood as still as a statue, not deigning to reply or to even turn around as the King of Games strolled forward to join him by the edge.

"I'm glad that you're starting to move past your PTSD, though," Yugi said calmly. PTSD. Seto never would have thought that he had PTSD; he wasn't a war veteran, after all. He hadn't witnessed a massacre or lived in a war zone. He hadn't—

Yugi glanced up at his friend and was concerned by his stricken expression and blank stare.

"Kaiba, are you alright?"

"How did you—"

"Mokuba asked me to help him edit his best-man speech last night. I asked him some questions about your childhood, and what he didn't know, I could fill in for myself."

"I never should have told him all that," Seto grumbled, regretting the day that he'd sat down with Mokuba and explained how he'd gotten his scars.

"Once I knew that you'd been traumatized, it was easy to see that it was affecting you long-term."

"I wasn't just traumatized," Kaiba growled. "I was _conditioned_." He couldn't speak for a few moments as he struggled against his rapid pulse, trying to force himself to calm down—and failing.

"None of it was your fault, either. I hope you don't think that."

Seto shrugged nonchalantly, wanting to change the subject.

"Kisara told me that I should have picked you as my best man, because you always believed in me."

"I did believe in you. I always did."

"That's not possible."

"It's true."

"I hated you."

"I know."

"I hated your pacifism, how you would never fight back if someone attacked you. I hated that you wore a dog collar as an accessory. I hated that you could beat me. I promised myself that I'd become the best, because if I was the best, it made me the strongest, and if I was the strongest, I could never be hurt again, I'd never feel that shame again."

"You took it out on Joey, too," Yugi added softly. " _He_ called you a dog, didn't he?"

"He said that I belonged on the streets."

Yugi had never heard Kaiba speak so quietly or with such anguish before. "He was wrong."

"I know."

Silence settled between them for a little while, neither of them turning to look at the other. Seto finally spoke again.

"Do you remember when we dueled here?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"I forgive you, Kaiba." The brunette shook his head in disbelief as Yugi turned to look at him. "I'm not the only one who needs to forgive you, though, because I'm not the only you hurt. Who else did you hurt, Kaiba?" he asked softly.

"Joey, Tea, Tristan, Mokuba…"

"But who did you hurt the most?"

Kaiba finally turned to look at Yugi with a confused look as Yugi turned a soft smile on him.

"You hurt yourself most, Kaiba. Forgive yourself, and everything else will follow." He placed a hand on Kaiba's shoulder for a moment before turning to leave. That was when he saw that Kisara was standing behind them with tears in her eyes. She offered Yugi a grateful smile as he passed her to reenter the party.

Kaiba's personal angel tiptoed up to him and pecked him on the cheek before he could even notice that she was there. He started and looked down at her, immediately concerned.

"Why are you crying?" he asked softly as he lifted his hands to her face and tilted it back so that he could see her face more clearly in the moonlight.

"He's right, you know," she murmured, a tear falling from her eye as she smiled at him sweetly. "You continue to hurt yourself more than anyone else until you forgive yourself for what you've done."

When Yugi turned around to glance back at them, Seto had his forehead pressed against Kisara's, the two standing close together with their arms around each other. He smiled again before reentering Pegasus' castle to join his friends.


	17. Family

"I want cake," Kisara announced as she leaned back in the rocking chair. "I want cake and steak and sushi and peanut butter and coconut…"

"I can get you some if you really want me to," Mokuba answered, perking up from where he was doing his homework on the floor.

"I'm tempted to take you up on that offer," Kisara sighed wistfully, staring up at the ceiling as her hands rested on her melon-sized stomach. "I'll let you know if I _actually_ need something, though."

Mokuba resumed his math homework. He was already doing high-school-level geometry. Seto actually hadn't wanted to let him advance so far ahead, but Mokuba had complained of boredom to such an extent that he demanded more intellectual stimulation. He'd gotten the geometry on the condition that he be careful not to fall behind on anything.

"I hate it when Seto travels," she pouted, rocking slowly in the chair. "I know that he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and I know that he has a bodyguard and he left Roland to look after us, but I still don't like the idea that he's not in the country. I miss him too much, and I can't help but worry…" She took a sip of her tea, then set it back down on the table. "Stupid hormones," she grumbled. Her eyes started to water as yet another hormonal mood swing took hold of her. She grabbed some tissues from the tissue box next to her mug of tea. "Be grateful that you'll never have to go through this firsthand, Mokuba," she said, trying to prevent the tears before they covered her face. "As wonderful a thing as life and birth are, pregnancy can be quite miserable sometimes." Mokuba got up from the floor and came over to give Kisara a much-needed hug. "Thank you, dear," she murmured, closing her eyes for a moment.

Then a large hand clamped down over her eyes. "Guess who?"

"Seto!" they both cried with surprise and joy. Mokuba leapt up into his brother's arms. They embraced briefly before Mokuba was set down and Seto helped Kisara stand up and gave her a gentle hug.

"How are my two favorite people in the whole world doing today?" he asked cheerfully.

"Better, now that you're home," Kisara admitted as her eyes started to tear up again. As she started to cry, Seto shushed her gently, in too good a mood about being home early to be upset or annoyed.

"What kind of cake do you want?" Mokuba asked.

"Chocolate," she answered immediately. "With extra chocolate. And ice cream. With cherries and whipped cream." Seto chuckled. "What? The baby's hungry!" she exclaimed in defense, and Seto kissed both her cheeks.

"You can eat as much cake as you need to, darling, as long as I can have a small bite."


End file.
